Information processing theory
The information processing theories approach to the study of cognitive development evolved out
of the American experimental tradition in psychology. Developmental psychologists who adopt the
information-processing perspective account for mental development in terms of maturational
changes in basic components of a child’s mind. The theory is based on the idea that humans
process the information they receive, rather than merely responding to stimuli. This perspective
equates the mind to a computer, which is responsible for analyzing information from the
environment. According to the standard information-processing model for mental development, the
mind’s machinery includes attention mechanisms for bringing information in, working memory for
actively manipulating information, and long-term memory for passively holding information so that it
can be used in the future.[1] This theory addresses how as children grow, their brains likewise
mature, leading to advances in their ability to process and respond to the information they received
through their senses. The theory emphasizes a continuous pattern of development, in contrast with
Cognitive Developmental theorists such as Jean Piaget that thought development occurred in stages
at a time.
Emergence
Information processing as a model for human thinking and learning is part of the resurgence of
cognitive perspectives of learning. The cognitive perspective asserts that complex mental states
affect human learning and behavior that such mental states can be scientifically investigated.
Computers, which process information, include internal states that affect processing. Computers,
therefore, provided a model for possible human mental states that provided researchers with clues
and direction for understanding human thinking and learning as information processing. Overall,
information-processing models helped reestablish mental processes that cannot be directly
observed as a legitimate area of scientific research.
Humans as Information Processing Systems
Within this model, humans are routinely compared to computers. This comparison is used as a
means of better understanding the way information is processed and stored in the human mind.
Therefore, when analyzing what actually develops within this model, the more specific comparison is
between the human brain and computers. Computers were introduced to the study of development
and provided a new way of studying intelligence (Lachman, 1979) and added further legitimacy to
the scientific study of the mind (Goodwin, 2005, p. 411). Information is taken in (or input).
Information is encoded to give meaning and compared with stored information. If a person is working
on a task, this is where the working memory is enacted. An example of that for a computer is
the CPU. In both cases, information is encoded, given meaning, and combined with previously
stored information to enact the task. The latter step is where the information is stored where it can
later be retrieved when needed. For computers, this would be akin to saving information on a hard
drive, where you would then upload the saved data when working on a future task (using your
working memory as in step 2).
Cognitive processes
Cognitive processes include perception, recognition, imagining, remembering, thinking,
judging, reasoning, problem solving, conceptualizing, and planning. These cognitive processes can
emerge from human language, thought, imagery, and symbols.
In addition to these specific cognitive processes, many cognitive psychologists study language-
acquisition, altered states of mind and consciousness, visual perception, auditory perception, short-
term memory, long-term memory, storage, retrieval, perceptions of thought and much more.
Nature versus nurture
This theory views humans as actively inputting, retrieving, processing, and storing information.
Context, social content, and social influences on processing are simply viewed as information.
Nature provides the hardware of cognitive processing and Information Processing theory explains
cognitive functioning based on that hardware. Individuals innately vary in some cognitive abilities,
such a memory span, but human cognitive systems function similarly based on a set of memory
stores that store information and control processes determine how information is processed. The
“Nurture” component provides information input (stimuli) that is processed resulting in behavior and
learning. Changes in the contents of the long-term memory store (knowledge) are learning. Prior
knowledge affects future processing and thus affects future behavior and learning.
Quantitative versus qualitative
Information processing theory combines elements of both quantitative and qualitative development.
Qualitative development occurs through the emergence of new strategies for information storage
and retrieval, developing representational abilities (such as the utilization of language to represent
concepts), or obtaining problem-solving rules (Miller, 2011). Increases in the knowledge base or the
ability to remember more items in working memory are examples of quantitative changes, as well as
increases in the strength of connected cognitive associations (Miller, 2011). The qualitative and
quantitative components often interact together to develop new and more efficient strategies within
the processing system.
Current areas of research
Information Processing Theory is currently being utilized in the study of computer or artificial
intelligence. This theory has also been applied to systems beyond the individual, including families
and business organizations. For example, Ariel (1987)[2] applied Information Processing Theory to
family systems, with sensing, attending, and encoding of stimuli occurring either within individuals or
within the family system itself. Unlike traditional systems theory, where the family system tends to
maintain stasis and resists incoming stimuli which would violate the system's rules, the Information
Processing family develops individual and mutual schemes which influence what and how
information is attended to and processed. Dysfunctions can occur both at the individual level as well
as within the family system itself, creating more targets for therapeutic change. Rogers, P. R. et al
(1999) utilized Information Processing Theory to describe business organizational behavior, as well
as to present a model describing how effective and ineffective business strategies are developed. In
their study, components of organizations that "sense" market information are identified as well as
how organizations attend to this information; which gatekeepers determine what information is
relevant/important for the organization, how this is organized into the existing culture (organizational
schemas), and whether or not the organization has effective or ineffective processes for their long-
term strategy.
